Rabbit farming business is a very lucrative business for farmers who have talent and passion for animal husbandry and livestock farming. The costs of starting up are low. Starting a rabbit farming business does not need a lot of capital as compared to other farming and livestock business ventures. However, strong technical knowledge is essential to succeed in this business.
You require several things to start rabbit farming business
Housing
Unlike other types of livestock, it’s not difficult to house rabbits. Elaborate, expensive housing and equipment are not necessary. The advantage of rabbits is that they can be kept in variety of housings like wire cages and hutches or bigrabbitry buildings. However, all types of rabbit housing should provide the following:
- The correct amount of space for the type of rabbits they will house
- They must be able to be maintained and cleaned easily
- Provide a safe place for rabbits to live, breed and raise young
- Be economical and of good quality
- Be sturdy and durable
- Have adequate ventilation
Rabbit Breeds
There are a variety of rabbits’breeds but the most common are the commercial, fancy and wool breeds. The rabbits breeds used by many include Californian White breed, New Zealand breed and Chinchilla Grey. For meat production, the best breeds to consider are the ones mentioned above. It is essential to select the right breeds for success in commercial rabbit farming in Zimbabwe.
It is important that you maintain pure breeds in order to maximize productivity. In order to have the best offspring, it is important that you select the best quality of the breeding stock. Depending on the availability and your preferences you may choose a particular breed. In purchasing your breeds choose a reliable source and keep in mind the health, weight (underweight or overweigh does may have conception and pregnancy problems) and sex of the rabbits. The following points should be highly observed.
- You should select rabbits that are strong with an excellent appearance of good health
- The body conformation of the breeding rabbits should be good. They should not have any deformity.
- It’s essential to see records of the parent rabbits stock. This is because the parents pass on good characteristics to their off springs.
